swaddling infants

[carol]

last night as i was putting all the children to bed and wrapping up the baby in her swaddle, i decided this was something i wanted to share with the board.
i wish i had done this with all my children but only my last 3 got to have this done to them. i relize that most people swaddle their babies at birth but i stated to do it up until 18 months. it makes family bed MUCH easier because they can't move. when babies are in that 6-10 months stage, they sit up and and crawl involuntarily. it hard to get them to settle sometimes with the many distractions life sents to babies. what i do is get a 6 ft piece of 100%cotton lightweight material and lay it down on the bed. then i lay the baby at one end and roll 'em up like a hot dog with their hands to their sides. then they don't have to struggle with themselves and i don't have to worry about them rolling of the bed. they will also go to sleep anywhere, anytime. i saw this done by the women in guana and this how they deal with the no crib thing. i love it. like i said, i wish i had done this with all my other children because at some point ,i always had a child in a crib for the very reasons that i solved by using the swaddle. i have also on occasion used it when i was in meetings where the child had to sit still. it is a very gentle form of training for little one.

[Maribel]

You know, when my nieces and nephews were born, now in their early 20's, my mother swaddled them in the hospital. It's our custom (Mexican). Anyway, the nurses had a cow then! The funny thing now, 20 some years later, it's all the rage in hospitals. I guess they finally caught on.

Every time I'm around friends with new babies, I teach them this method. It helps babies sleep longer and more comfortable. Sometimes babies startle themselves and since they can't control the movement of their arms and legs, it scares them and they cry (this is totally MY theory from experience).

I agree, it's the best thing ever. I swaddled my DD until she was almost 2.

[lilyka]

My first loved to be swaddled. I loved to see her all snug in her blanket like a little burrito. We stopped when she was about 6 weeks old as dirrected by the hospital staff. They feared it would delay motor skills (I know more now then I did then. You live, you learn.) My second one hated it though. Not even when she was fresh from the womb would she except it. She was quite quick at getting her arms out. My Indian friend had taught me all thier cultual reasons for swaddling and all the benifits and I was all pumped but Lilyka just wouldn't have it. She was 2 weeks late and sick of comfinement I guess. I think it is really cool though. I remember how secure Madeline seemed when she was swaddled. It was the only way she could fall asleep.

[Katrina]

Swaddling was great for about a month, then my daughter would have none of it. She hates not being able to move freely around. She didn't even want the sling after about 4 months. She's a rip-raring kind of kid, I guess.

[Spark]

Thank you! Friends of mine scared me by saying that once my baby could roll over, I had to stop swaddling him, for fear he would roll over and then not be able to right himself. I kept thinking, "but how could he roll over unless he got out of his swaddle? And, if he was out of his swaddle, then problem solved!"

He sleeps so well swaddled. I'll keep doing it! Ah, that old inner voice. It's such a goodie! Thank you for giving it confidence!

Claire
with nice sweet Jude born 11/28/02 on his father's birthday!